Trowel.



W. W. WOLARY & W. B. DUPUIS.

V TROWEL.

APPLICATION FILED APB.14, 1909.

952,971. Patented Mar.22, 1910.

WWWNIIWI UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WII'JBUR W. WOLARY AND WILL B. DUPUIS, OF WASHINGTON, IOWA.

TROWEL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, l/VILBUR W. Tommy and WILL B. Dorms, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Washington, in the county of Washingtonand State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTrowels, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in trowels, and the object is toprovide a masons trowel which may be transformed into a flat, convex orconcave trowel, so that the work of three different trowels may beaccomplished with a single trowel, thus making it possible to operate ona flat or curved surface with equal facility.

With these objects in view, our invention consists in a flexible trowelblade with a handle connected thereto through its longitudinal center,and means for flexing the blade into convex or concave form, and holdingit in such position, or allowing it to remain in a flat adjustment asthe case may require.

Our invention further consists in certain novel features of constructionand combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described andpointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a View in side elevation, Fig.2 is a top plan view, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section with dottedlines indicating different adjustments.

A, represents the trowel blade, which is of the usual rectangular form,and made of sheet metal; 1, 2, and 3, are strips securely rivetedlengthwise of the blade, the strips 1 and 3 at the edges, and 2, at thecenter. A bracket 4 is erected from the center bar 2, and preferablyintegral therewith, and on the tang 5, a handle 6 is secured by a nut orother means 7, which tang may be upset on the end to hold the nut on.The bracket extends laterally at its outer end, parallel with the centerbar 2, and has an orifice 8 therethrough to receive a screw 9 which isswiveled in the orifice with its nut swiveled in a bearing 10 in thecenter bar 2. The screw passes through a nut 12, and the wings 13, 13,of this nut are pivotally connected with the toggle links 14, 14, andthese in turn are pivotally connected with lugs 15, 15, upstanding fromthe bars 1 and 3. Normally the blade is perfectly flat like an ordinarymasons trowel, but to adjust it to make it convex for instance, a screwis Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 14, 1909.

Patented Mar. 22, 1910. Serial No. 489,851.

turned to the right, thus drawing the nut 12 outwardly, and through thetoggle links, drawing the edges of the trowel in the same direction,thus presenting a curvature to the blade of greater or less degreeaccording to the requirements, as it may tend from perfectly straight toa more or less sharp curve. The blade is made to present a concavesurface by reversing the screw until the curvature desired is attained.In this simple manner, we have in effect, three tools in one, thusgiving it a wide range of usefulness, so that it may not only be used toapply plaster and cement to flat surfaces, but also for finishing allsizes of cement curbing, for instance, and other cement walls, orproclucts that call for a finished surface on a curve or circle. Also itis useful in the con struction of cement gutters, drains, floors,wash-ways, water tanks, cisterns, sewers, and the like; in fact, therange of its utility is only measured by the limitations of a straight,a convex, and a concave trowel, it combining all three in one, aspreviously stated.

More or less slight changes might be resorted to in the form andarrangement of the several parts described, and the mechanical means foraccomplishing the results cited, without departure from the spirit andscope of our invention, and hence we do not wish to limit ourselves tothe exact construction herein set forth, but

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A trowel comprising a flexible one-piece blade, and means connectedwith the blade at at least two points more or less remote from eachother and means connected with said first-mentioned means for flexingthe blade from a straight plane to present either a convex or concavesurface.

2. A trowel comprising a flexible one-piece blade, and means connectedwith the blade at three points for flexing the blade from a straightplane to present either a convex or concave surface.

3. A trowel comprising a blade, a bracket, a screw, a nut, a toggle,links extending from the end of the toggle to the edges of the bladewhereby the latter is adjusted from a straight to a convex or concaveform.

4:. A trowel comprising a flexible blade, arms extending from oppositeedges of the blade toward the center, and means connected with the innerends of said arms for moving said inner ends toward or away from thecenter of the blade, whereby to flex it, and impart to it a convex orconcave surface.

5. A trowel comprising a blade, bars along the opposite edges andcenter, a bracket extending from the center bar, a handle connected withthe bracket, a screw swiveled to the bracket and center bar, a nut inwhich the screw turns, and links extending from the nut to the outerbars whereby the turning of the screw in one direction curves the bladeone way, and the reverse turn of the screw curves it in an oppositedirection.

6. A trowel comprising a flexible blade, and means attached to the bladeat or near \VILBUR V. VOLARY. WILL B. DUPUIS.

Witnesses VILL T. SHEARER, THOMPSON L. BROOKHART.

